Thanks late, but I thought when you were tired (or the day after a big effort) you would show a HR higher than normal on, say, a hard climb. Tonight I would be in a brutal climb, gasping for air, and look down and see a HR 10+ beats lower than I have come to expect. Seems like that's the way I remember it working before but it's been a few years since I've been at this level, I could be remembering it all wrong.

I do have a victory to report, for the first time in several years I can no longer enter a race as a Clydesdale

Maybe it was ice cream causing that other problem instead of soybeans heheh.

For me the 2nd consecutive brisk to hard ride in a row will see a lower heart rate than the 1st day out of recovery. However after a few days you'll see fatigue and even lower heart rates and that would indicate overtraining, time to take time off. Resting heart rate rise is also an indication of overtraining. If it's too high you're overtrained. When I hit recovery mode I watch my heart rate. Usually within 24-36 hours after hard workouts it comes back down into the high 40s. Upper 50s for me is when I'm overtrained. Watching your heart rate continually and consistently will give you this sense of training. Good luck.

In my running experience, I have experienced a "zone" sort of thing...
Anyway, when running sometimes, my heart rate synchronized with my leg motion. So, I did not use a heart rate monitor those times =
Maybe you were training the pulmonary part of the cardiopulmonary system rather than the "cardio" part.

Jacob

"Always continue with an attack you have begun." - Manfred von Richthofen
"Mysteries are not necessarily miracles." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Back then, a half-a-century ago, the situation was totally different. Economically, we were practically on our knees, and politically, we were still excluded from the community of nations. Today, in this respect, we have a totally different and much more stable basis." - Franz Beckenbauer

yup, flyefisher is right... when you're overtrained, your heart rate will drop... you will feel like you're dying, but your HRM says you're only at 80% of MHR, and there's nothing you can do to make it go higher. that's when you know you gotta take a rest day.

i don't use my HRM as a training tool anymore... I just see it as another piece of information

When I exercise with a very rapid heart rate, I actually feel much better when doing the exercise, but then my social interactions with whoever is in charge of my physical activities afterwards(be it work, etc.) tends to go really whacky.

Jacob
69 bpm

"Always continue with an attack you have begun." - Manfred von Richthofen
"Mysteries are not necessarily miracles." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Back then, a half-a-century ago, the situation was totally different. Economically, we were practically on our knees, and politically, we were still excluded from the community of nations. Today, in this respect, we have a totally different and much more stable basis." - Franz Beckenbauer

Could be when you exercise you get a big release of endorphins. Endorphins hit the same pleasure receptors heroin and opium hit. Except of course they're legal cause your body makes them. It would be similar to having a couple drinks, just enough to lower your inhibitions and let those inner thoughts out.

I would try to repeat the same ride and see what kind of results you get. Sometimes, if you are overtraining, you'll notice a drop in your heart rate while riding, then over time, you'll notice your heart rate will be pretty high when doing what you would normally consider a pretty easy workout. Pay attention to your resting heart rate too over the next few days. If you find that you're more than 10 beats higher than normal, take time off. If it's just a few beats higher, I would still take it a little easy for the next few days until your resting heart rate is back to normal.